Behind the Backlash Against Netflix’s Best of the Best: Film Criticism, Review Bombing and Identity Politics

Netflix’s Best of the Best, featuring Canadian Tamil actor Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, has become the subject of a growing online controversy. What initially appeared to be criticism of a joke in the film has developed into a broader dispute involving review bombing, Sri Lankan nationalism, Tamil identity and online harassment.

The controversy appears to involve several distinct issues that should not be treated as one unified campaign.

The Kabul Joke That Sparked Criticism

One source of criticism is a line delivered by Ramakrishnan’s character, who compares men pursuing her to being “the last plane out of Kabul.”

The reference is to the chaotic evacuation from Kabul following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. The evacuation involved desperate attempts by thousands of people to leave the country, scenes of severe human suffering and loss of life.

Some viewers have therefore criticised the line as insensitive, arguing that a humanitarian tragedy of such magnitude should not be used as a punchline in a romantic comedy.

This criticism can be understood as a conventional debate about the film’s writing, humour and treatment of a real-world tragedy. It does not, by itself, establish that the people making the criticism were involved in any organised review-bombing campaign.

A Separate Controversy Surrounding Maitreyi Ramakrishnan

A second and separate controversy concerns Ramakrishnan herself and her identity as a Canadian of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage.

Some Sri Lankan nationalist social-media users have accused the actor of supporting or being sympathetic to the LTTE. Such allegations appear to be connected to perceptions surrounding her Tamil identity, public statements and associations.

Calls have reportedly circulated online urging users to give one-star ratings to Best of the Best. Some of these appeals allegedly extended beyond the Netflix film to other projects involving Ramakrishnan.

This has led to questions about whether at least some of the negative ratings reflect genuine opinions about the film or are instead motivated by hostility toward the actor and her perceived political or ethnic identity.

The Review-Bombing Question

The controversy became more significant after reports of unusual rating activity on online platforms.

If organised groups deliberately submit large numbers of negative ratings because of an actor's identity or political associations rather than because they watched and disliked the film, that would represent a different phenomenon from ordinary audience criticism.

This distinction is important.

A viewer who watches the film and dislikes the Kabul joke is expressing a criticism of the film. A coordinated campaign encouraging people to give the film one-star ratings because of opposition to the actor represents a different type of online activity.

The two may occur simultaneously, but they should not automatically be treated as the same thing.

From Film Criticism to Online Harassment

The controversy has also reportedly gone beyond ratings and criticism of the movie.

Ramakrishnan has faced attacks relating to her Tamil identity, while discussions surrounding the controversy have reportedly included allegations of colourism, casteism and other forms of online abuse.

There have also been reports of intimidation directed at Tamil academics and advocates involved in discussions concerning Tamil history and the LTTE.

If such threats are substantiated, they represent a significant escalation beyond criticism of a film or actor. Disagreement over a movie, political history or an individual's public views is fundamentally different from personal harassment or intimidation.

The Larger Sri Lankan Context

The controversy cannot be completely separated from the long history of ethnic and political conflict in Sri Lanka.

The country's Sinhala-Tamil conflict has left deep political and social divisions, particularly around questions of identity, nationalism, the civil war and the legacy of the LTTE.

Those divisions have also continued to influence sections of the Sri Lankan diaspora and social-media communities.

Ramakrishnan's visibility as a successful Tamil Canadian actor therefore places her within a broader conversation about Tamil representation and identity. At the same time, perceptions about her political views have made her a target of criticism from some groups.

However, criticism based on documented statements or actions should be distinguished from assumptions or allegations based solely on ethnic identity.

Three Different Issues Should Be Kept Separate

The controversy surrounding Best of the Best is easier to understand when divided into three categories:

First, legitimate film criticism.
Viewers are entitled to argue that the Kabul reference was insensitive or inappropriate and to express their dissatisfaction with the film.

Second, possible coordinated review bombing.
If organised efforts encouraged people to submit negative ratings primarily because of opposition to Ramakrishnan, that is different from ordinary audience criticism.

Third, online harassment.
Personal attacks, threats or intimidation directed at Ramakrishnan or people discussing Tamil history would go beyond legitimate criticism.

Keeping these categories separate is important because criticism of a film should not automatically be dismissed as politically motivated, while politically motivated review bombing should not automatically be presented as evidence that a film was universally rejected by genuine viewers.

A Controversy Larger Than the Film

Ultimately, the backlash against Best of the Best appears to involve more than the quality of the movie itself.

The Kabul joke has generated a genuine debate about whether comedy can appropriately reference recent humanitarian tragedies. Separately, Ramakrishnan's Sri Lankan Tamil identity has become part of an online political and nationalist dispute.

The resulting controversy therefore sits at the intersection of film criticism, social-media mobilisation, ethnic identity and the unresolved political sensitivities surrounding Sri Lanka's Tamil-Sinhala history.

The key issue is not simply whether people liked or disliked Best of the Best. It is whether different forms of criticism are being accurately distinguished—and whether an actor's ethnic or political identity is being used by some online groups as a reason to target a film and its ratings.

Understanding that distinction is essential to understanding what is actually behind the backlash.